Hi all. So, I've just bought a house in Pepperell, MA and I'm wondering if there are any good stretches of road that are out there that are out of sight from both the 5-0 and people in general. I'm not looking to get arrested or endanger/bother anyone (or myself!), but I have a lot of under-utilized and abandoned industrial parks where I am now that I can use to try 1/8, 1/4 and 0-60mph times right now for tuning my car that I'm going to be missing out on and I'm wondering if anyone knows of any safe and secret areas in or around Pepperell where one can perhaps do the same? Thanks for the heads-up all and take care!

I don't have that info for you but can't you do all that kind of testing/tuning at the track or with one of those dash-mounted accelerometers?

Well, yes and no. Yes, you can tune a car at a track of course, but sadly, no, I never have the time to get to one. The ride alone to a track from where I live now is over two hours away one-way, and once I move to Pepperell, I'm still looking at an hour and a half trek there, again, one-way.

Also, I have a family, so it's hard to say to my stay-at-home-mom of a wife, "Honey, I know you've had the kids all week long and are looking for some relief, but I'm gonna go to the track and shouldn't be back for about 5-6 hours because it takes so long to get there." Yeah, that's not gonna be happening anytime soon... I might be able to get out like once, twice tops a season with that, but no more than that and I'm trying stuff out too often for so little testing time.

I have a nice old G-Tech Pro device (but I want to upgrade to a Pro RR:
http://www.gtechpro.com/index.html) for measuring these sorts of things, and my best bet has been to find some long strip of quiet non-residental tarmac on a Sunday to just try a few runs over the course of 20 minutes and then to go home and tinker again with things and see what worked and what didn't.

When you go to the track too, it can take nearly an hour to go from run 1 to run 2 as everyone else gets a shot inbetween. When you have a deserted street in a quiet commercial/industrial area, you can pull like 3-5 runs in just a few minutes and then be on your way and back under the hood of your car tweaking again in no time!

Ok, that sounds reasonable then.

I wish I knew of an area for you, but I'm a good bit west of you. I have family roots in Pepperell, but they are from long ago.

Hey we're located in Pepperell, come bang on the door and say hi sometime.

T

Will do! Got any info on a good deserted spot to secretly run a quick 1/8 and/or 1/4 mile somewhere around there? Old air strip or highway or parking lot or something? I promise to be good and not tear up my new town!

I have no idea on that. Just be careful in these parts. Seriously though when you get settled swing by, I'll give you a tour of the place and a T-Shirt or something.I should have them back in stock soon.

Tony

I used to go to school in Nashua, NH right over the border near pepperel. I'm pretty sure there was a dragstrip not too far from there off of amherst street/101. also i believe there was a strip in Hudson, NH. Try asking around at local garages as well. just thought this might help

The closest strip is New England Dragway in Epping NH.I live a 1/2 hour from there.

Hudson speedway's in Hudson NH, that's an oval track.

Yup epping was the one i was thinking of. Have you ever been to the big car show on Amherst st at the Texas Roadhouse/Target parking lot?

Haven't made it out to that one yet.

Tony where abouts in Pepperell are u guys?do you stock most of your parts there or are they warehoused elsewhere? Just curious

Bye the way the Cops are pretty strict in these little towns.I got stopped in mt 18 wheeler for 5 over.

I hear that loud and clear. I'm always careful when driving around in my T/A, I cruise Bill Slowski style, (the turtle from the Comcast commercials ;~) It's just always nice to know an area close to home where I came practice cornering after a suspension upgrade, or start/stop times. I need to put a parking lot in my back yard. :P


Yeah, Epping is the only one I know of myself and it's a bit of a hike. Wish there was one closer. Maybe I should open one? I can only imagine the insurance premium they must have.


Yeah, I'm curious too, what's your store near Tony? And I agree howy03, there's generally no real crimes being commited, so they gotta do something, and handing out ticket's is easy. Sometimes I think back to the days when I used to ditch cops back home for speeding, and then sometimes I think to myself, "What the heck was I thinking, if they ever caught me I could'a been in serious trouble!!!"

Ah the difference 15 years of clarity can make.

We stock everything except stuff like,carpets and interior.There are to many variables with that stuff.So when it's ordered it comes from the factory.

We're at 8 Chapel Place in Pepperell MA,not really anything to tell you where we're near for a landmark.